Grace is getting married!

Grace got engaged in December! We are so happy and feel so fortunate to be adding Will to our family! We ALL went dress shopping with Grace. This isn't the dress but just one she tried on. I still can't believe she is getting married. I guess she will always be my baby. She is flying through getting the wedding planned and we can't wait!

Lounging around...

This is how we spent most of December....laying in the den playing with the girls. Very low key, one of the perks of not being able to leave the house or be around anyone!

Sleeping...

They don't sleep through the night. For a little while....they did. Sometimes they do, but for the most part they don't. It is a total hit or miss, whether they sleep or are up all night. Maybe that is why I keep taking pictures of them sleeping or maybe it's just because they look like my little babies without all that talking and walking.

More time in the window

Talking and pointing of course at all there is outside the window...
"Mom, do you see, huh?"

"Seriously, are you even listening? Put the camera down"

"I will grab it..."

Drama

Along with December being filled with all things good....there were also many, many tantrums. They have gotten so independent and think they are 14. They are just on the verge of communicating so when you don't understand them or just don't give them what they are asking for, which involves grunts and pointing, or they don't understand each other, or one of them touches the other, snatches a toy, looks at you wrong....they melt. First the face, sometimes this can be delayed while they decide if they have the energy or not, then they gently or roughly fling themselves onto the ground. They flail their bodies up and down and all around. If they aren't close enough to hit or kick something to make noise, then they roll around until they hit something. That makes them mad too. The non-screaming twin immediately looks to the adult in the room and: a) laughs b) becomes very concerned and tries to comfort/kiss/make even more angry the sad twin c) looks to see if they get in trouble, always with a face that says "I swear I didn't do it!" Good times!

Taxi rides

As those from the Delta know farmers are home for the winter.....luckily Lauren can not sit still for more than I couple of minutes at a time and also he is very handy. We moved everything from his office into our garage/storage shed and he now has a new office. The girls and I have spent a lot of time walking back and forth to hang out with him and get out of the house for a minute.

Mamie can curl her tongue...she is very proud of it. We didn't teach her she just did it one day. She likes to show it off.

This is Ann Grace making sure I understood what she was just explaining.

Window Seat

In December the girls learned how to climb up on everything. One of their favorite things to do was to get up next to the window and lick off the condensation, talk and point and bang things as hard as they could against the window. Lauren eventually put a layer of plexiglass in so they don't go through! Looks a little sad that they aren't outside playing.....it's not. Take them outside and they want to go right back in!

Mamie and her big blue eyes.

Mamie just told me something funny and is now laughing at what she said. She is pretty sure that she is hilarious.

This is Mamie's face after she does something she thinks she isn't supposed to, but she is just going to kinda smile and see if she gets in trouble. She is sitting in the chair and doesn't know if that is okay.

My sweet Ann Grace. I love that you can see her clutching her finger puppet in her hand. Finger puppets have been a favorite of the girls. I ordered them a set of Manhattan Toy puppets from Amazon, they are Old McDonald. I highly recommend them. We love them. The girls constantly have one on their finger waving them around. Oh, and I bought them for Christmas but apparently Lauren can not keep any Christmas presents until the day. He got the box from UPS and had gone through it and wanted to go ahead and give them the puppets.

Ann Grace thinks she can talk. She talks to you all day long, explaining things apparently in great detail. She also uses different accents.....their is whiny, excited, gremlin, something very guttural that I think is German, tired, angry, happy, going to sleep.... and many more. She uses her hands to explain and then will turn around and walk off like we just decided something. Seeing her walk is hilarious too. She does not bend any part of her body. She keeps her upper body still and legs straight. To make a turn she plants one leg and push around in a circle with the other. They both look like they have been in the egg nog.

I love this with her clutching the chicken. Although very animated, Ann Grace can be very still and quiet. She often will grab a toy, sit in the corner and play. I love that about her.